there is a countdown at the bottom of the stream showing the time until the next ad break.
mid-rolls are still the worst, but this is one way to make them a little more tolerable.
several streamers i know that do this also take the opportunity to pause the game, get up and take a break, and also encourage their viewers to do the same. i just love the idea of capitalism shouting into the void while the audience practices self-care
The thing about pre-rolls is that if you are running them then your introduction to a new viewer that hasn't already decided they like you and want to watch you streams is sitting through an ad for "???????".
Pre-Rolls only make sense for a dedicated audience that you can guarantee is going to log in and stay in. It sucks, but I'm not about to let some Tax Firm control my channel's first impression.
I'll look into the timers and suchlike though. Those make sense.